Read More

He told the Presbyterian Herald: "There is a very small percentage of people who have any sort of Christian faith within the rugby world and that can be a tough challenge.

"It's a challenge that I don't always get right; sometimes I can get into fights on the pitch and do things that probably don't point towards me being a Christian, so the challenge is trying to get it right more times than I get it wrong."

Stockdale he may not share the same belief systems as some of his teammates but that doesn't get in the way of their friendship.

"I'm a firm believer that you can't completely detach yourself from that culture because it makes it hard to socialise, to interact with your team-mates".

"At the end of the day, the guys that I play with are my really close friends, whether they're Christians or not.

"When you have team socials where there is a lot of drinking involved, you have to balance it; go, maybe have a few drinks but know when to stop drinking and be smart about it in that sense.

"I think it's detrimental not to go to team socials and to distance yourself from your teammates and colleagues - at the end of the day you're here to be an evangelist and separating yourself from others doesn't help."